Welp. I did it. I channeled my inner Asian girl and honed in on any recipe that would greatly benefit with the addition of Matcha. et voilà! Matcha Melon Pan heaven. Out of the oven, these buns are the best afternoon snack.
Last weekend, while walking through Berkeley’s college town, we stumbled into an Asian bakery. Obviously, when there’s any bakery of any sorts, a slight detour is to be made. Even if I had just gorged myself on delicious, satisfying, tongue-numbing Indian food at Vik’s Chaat, I couldn’t help but imagine taking a bite out of those those crunchy, yet fluffy buns.
First things first, what exactly are melon pans? Melon Pans = fluffy sweet bun + crispy cookie topping. The bun is an enriched dough, made with yeast. The origin of “Melon Pan” can be broken down into two parts. “Pan” in Japanese means bread, adapted from the Portuguese. As for “Melon” part, I’ve always assumed it was named because the top looked like a melon. Just One Cookbook is my go-to blog for all things Japanese. Nami clearly does her research and laid out some really interesting theories for the etymology of “Melon” , some rooted in Japan’s rich cultural history.
The Crumbly Crust 